


Opportunities

by Showhyuk4eva



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Industry work, M/M, Making decisions, Music, Professional Vocalist Kihyun, Rare Pairings, exploring jooki., making songs, opportunities!, talking sense, underground rapper Jooheon, working together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 08:39:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12931632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Showhyuk4eva/pseuds/Showhyuk4eva
Summary: Underground rapper Jooheon gets a chance to work with his favorite Idol Kihyun, but it's not as amazing as he thought it would be.





	Opportunities

Jooheon walked up the stairs feeling his soul leave him.  
His nerves ate him up with each step he took.  
He still couldn't believe it.  
He - a common underground rapper - was going to be meeting one of the most well known vocalists of the industry, not to mention he was talented as fuck!

Ever since the man had sung his cover of Hyeya on live telecast he had become a celebrity. It had been recorded accidentally, and millions had heard him.   
They had loved it, and so had Jooheon.  
Joohon had religiously followed Kihyun's SNS and blogs and had seen him reach where he was today.   
You could say he was a fan!

So it wasn't surprising that Jooheon felt like he was in a dream as he walked up to meet the man he had been admiring for so long.  
He thought back to his audition, thinking how lucky he was. His friend Gunhee had been the one who'd mentioned the thing in the first place.  
They had been rapping together since he could remember and it felt odd doing this without him. But he was glad his friend was backing him up for this opportunity.  
He was ecstatic when the company had called up to say he was going to be featured in one of their new vocalist's song and music video, only to find out later that the person was none other than Kihyun himself. Jooheon lost his mind then!

He had been dealt a hard card in life, and had always struggled to get things he wanted. It seemed as if all that hard work was finally paying off.  
So he walked towards the door at the end of the corridor, the studio in which he would be working for the next month or so… and hoped things would go smoothly.

****

Kihyun had been waiting half an hour, he always liked to be early, too early according to some of his friends, but he like it that way.  
It gave him time to collect himself and his thoughts and be one step ahead in all conversations, everything planned out in his head.  
That's why the situation eluded him a bit. He knew he was going to be getting a new partner for the new single the company was getting him to do, but the fact that the guy was a rapper, or a rapper with no experience was altogether another thing.

He was new to the industry, and he himself didn't know what worked and what didn't… he felt very uncertain...and his uncertainty showed up in the form of annoyance at not knowing what to do.

“Kihyun… this is Jooheon. He'll be working on the song with you. Get to know each other's styles and decide what you're comfortable with…  
We'll start on actually composing it tomorrow.”  
His manager said to him. He then pushed a gangly looking boy, who seemed to have an anger problem forward.  
The boy, despite of his first impression, was smiling in a way that his eyes almost disappeared into 2 crescents, his cheekbones pink and rosy and deep cute dimples on his face.  
He looked adorable, and it oddly went with his whole I'll-take-no-shit get up…  
He was like the mix of a cotton candy and grenade and Kihyun caught himself staring rudely.  
“Oh… yes, hello!” He said bowing to greet the other.  
Jooheon bowed then moved in for a handshake.  
“I'm a big fan…!” He said.  
“Oh..” Kihyun felt his face heating up…. He was still not used to the compliments. “Thank you” he said smiling.

“Ok, I'll see you guys later. Kihyun, show him where the coffee is.”  
Then the manager left, lifting his phone to his ear.

“So…..” Kihyun said, after a few minutes of awkwardness.  
“What kind of songs are you into…”  
“That's kinda obvious right?... I'm a rapper, so I really like hip hop.”  
“Oh…”  
“Yeah…”  
“I haven't really tried singing hip-hop…”  
“Oh… I mean I kinda figured…”  
“Hmmm what do you mean…”  
“I just mean I've heard your songs… you generally go for the sappy romantic or acoustic type of music.”  
“That's not all… I've done so far.”  
“Yeah it is….” Jooheon said scoffing lightly.  
He hadn't planned the first talk to get this uncomfortable, but Jooheon wasn't one to back down, even if the other was older.  
“I've been keeping track of you, as I said a fan, and I've noticed you have been playing it safe, only doing covers or going for the soft and ballad sort of songs…. Not saying that's bad  
.. I mean, you are very talented, but you don't explore much.” He said.  
In his experience he had leaned there is no end to learning, and people would always give criticism, whether you asked or not, so you had to just take it and keep getting better at what you did.  
So whether it was a hyung he was talking to or someone younger, he learnt to give equal respect and equal advise.

Kihyun on the other hand was getting annoyed, who was this guy to come and tell him he wasn't good enough.  
Kihyun had always had everyone telling him he was very good, and somewhere he had forgotten how to take criticism positively, so he scowled at Jooheon.

Their first meeting didn't end on a positive note, the older finding the younger a bit too confident for his own good.

****

Jooheon noticed dents in his admiration for Kihyun into their 3rd week of working together, he would constantly nag and complain about how Jooheon worked, or how he ate, or how he dressed, and basically everything in general.   
However for the sake of the company, and them working together, he compromised on a lot, the rest he just ignored.  
They were working again on some ballad sort of song… which worked for Jooheon, it wasn't the first time for him, however, he thought both of them could come up with something much much better.  
The company however wanted to go with something surefire and crowd pleasing, and so they went ahead with it, Jooheon not wanting to say anything as this was his first proper job, and Kihyun not wanting to do anything the company would disapprove of.

Kihyun liked to please people, and didn't take risks very often, Jooheon decided, observing the other as he asked another idol who had worked with the company for many more years for inputs.

After another boring recording on the last day of the week, both of them sat in the studio listening to the progress, when he heard Kihyun humming another tune silently.  
Jooheon had always been very attuned to beats and tunes, so he caught on instantly.  
He started tapping his feet in time with Kihyun's tune.  
However, the moment Kihyun caught on, he stopped.

An hour later, as they were packing up, Jooheon walked up to him.  
“That was nice..” he said to the other, shoving a bottle of hot water into his bag.  
“What was?..”  
“The time you were humming.”  
“Oh that…. It was nothing”  
“No… it was really good… better than…”  
“I don't think…”  
“What we are making now.” Jooheon's words cut short whatever Kihyun was going to say to change the topic.  
“You know it as well as I do.” Jooheon said into the silence that descended upon them.  
“I think the company knows what they're doing…. It's their job….”  
“Yeah… it's their job to sell music, it's a business for them… they're goal is making money.”  
“But…”  
“But they don't know what else can be done, because you haven't shown them yet….. you haven't taken the risk.”  
“Hey… that's not fair…”  
“Who said the truth was fair.” Jooheon turned, zipping up his backpack.   
“It not like I haven't tried…”  
“But you haven't tried harder…. I haven't signed up with this company, so I don't have anything to loose, I can go back to taking my risks and doing what I love, but are you satisfied with the way things are now?”  
“I have everything I wished for…”  
“Do you? Really….” He moved to the door of the room. Then he looked back at Kihyun  
“Don't do it for me… do it for yourself, you know you're much better than this..”  
Jooheon walked out then, putting in his earphones. He didn't hear Kihyun murmur silently.  
“What if I fail…?”

****  
Their song was released a week later, after fine tuning it.   
It was well received, and even though it didn't get best song of the week, it got a lot of hits and appreciation. For a beginner, the song did very well. At least that's what the manager told Kihyun, handing him a paycheck.  
“Keep it up!” He said patting his back before leaving.

Kihyun headed home to get ready for the company's event in the evening for celebration of the release of the single and a comeback of another boy group signed under them.  
On the way home, he was looking through his duffel bag for his phone when his hands brushed against a small object.  
He pulled out his old MP3 player, remembering it was the one he used to record the tun we,es and songs he made up before…  
He plugged his earphones in it and decided to enjoy old times.

By the time he reached home, he was a changed man.

****  
Jooheon walked into the hall full of rich and famous people.  
He felt very out of place.  
After getting the paycheck, the company had subtlety told him they weren't in need of another rapper, and that “his style didn't go well with the company…”  
He remembered how the manager frowned every time Jooheon had tried to make changes in the song…  
To his surprise, he was happy he didn't have to deal with the oppression anymore.  
He had got a minute’s worth of time to show off his rapping on a bigger platform than before… and that was better than anything else.

He smiled at some strangers while sipping champagne, feeling very out of place. He imagined Kihyun enjoying himself in the party, with people he knew and liked… for some reason he felt sad he hadn't seen the older yet.  
He'd gotten used to the nagging and monitoring Kihyun seemed to excel at.  
They had become more civil towards each other by the end, and he had found himself liking the man for who he was and not just admiring him for his talent.  
Jooheon just wished he would push himself a bit and explore his full potential.

He was deciding to leave after finishing his drink when he felt a light Pat on his shoulder.  
Turning around he saw Kihyun, dressed up and looking gorgeous.  
The man's short brown hair was styled on his head, leaving his whole face visible, which was made to look dreamy using soft makeup.  
“Hi!” Kihyun said, smiling his pretty smile.

Jooheon felt speechless.

****

Kihyun saw him standing by himself drinking champagne, he walked over deciding what he would say.  
He lightly tapped the other's shoulder. Jooheon had recently dyed his hair red, and he wore a red tie bringing out the highlights in his hair.  
He looked good in the suit, Kihyun thought as Jooheon turned around to meet his gaze.

The man looked back at him with something like disbelief in his eyes, which then turned into a dazed gaze…  
Kihyun felt himself blushing again.   
Jooheon had always shown his emotions easily and for some reason, they seemed to be too direct for Kihyun.  
“Hi!” he said, trying to get his thoughts back into order.

A moment passed, Jooheon was still just staring at him.

Then a waiter passed by, carrying a huge crab on a tray, a part of the main course.  
It seemed to pull Jooheon out of his daze as one of the crabs arms came too close to grazing Jooheon's arm.   
He shreeked and stepped aside. A few eyes turned to them, Jooheon looked scandalized.

Then they looked at each other and laughed.  
It felt good.  
Kihyun realized, he really liked Jooheon's laugh.  
****

They were a bit drunk after the party ended, and we're sitting near a store, Kihyun holding a pack of milkshake he fully intended to drink before getting into the cab.

“I've decided to quit!” Kihyun said out of the blue.  
Jooheon looked around to gape at him.  
“What?!”  
“Yeah….” Kihyun said, he got up and walked a few steps away and then back.  
“I thought about what you said….it made sense.”  
“I didn't mean for you to quit or something though…” Jooheon said, feeling uneasy…  
“ That's just stupid!”   
“ I know it's a risk…. But I need to step out into the open.”  
“But that doesn't mean you need to starve.”  
Kihyun sat down again, sipping on his strawberry milkshake.  
“I want to explore more, I want to learn more. And right now I don't feel like I'm learning.”  
He looked at Jooheon then, eyes intense and determined.  
It moved him. Just like it had when he'd seen Kihyun perform his song, he felt it.  
“And anyway, it's not like I'm too old, I'm only 22. I'll get more opportunities! Remember, I'm talented!” He said.  
“Yeah..” Jooheon heard himself say, “you are…”

They talked about nothing important in particular and for some reason Jooheon felt special being beside Kihyun goofing around and acting silly. The guy was pretty chill when he let loose a bit.

“Thanks for putting my head in place,” Kihyun said as they got up seeing the taxi pull over.

Kihyun looked over to see the driver had pulled out his phone while waiting for him.  
He held Jooheon's hands in his suddenly,  
“I might have come off as annoying and arrogant, but it's not like that at all. I just get difficult when I'm nervous, so I'm going to say this while I'm still a bit tipsy. I enjoyed working with you, and will look forward to doing so again”  
He said, moving closer to Jooheon. “Your amazing and talented and you make me laugh and I really like your company, so I hope we meet again, and next time, I'll not let you down.”  
He moved in then, lightly pecking Jooheon's lips.  
And as if it had never happened, Kihyun moved away, his cheeks Rosy and that pretty smile on his face.  
He turned around and rushed to the cab leaving Jooheon speechless.

“You didn't” Jooheon said, looking in the direction the cab had driven off in.

He would make sure there was a next time.

Tucking his hands into his jacket, he walked off in the direction of his home, a smile on his face and a dreamy look in his eyes.

****

Jooheon was still walking home, it was cold and he felt stupid for not calling a cab like Kihyun had. He reached a dark road and suddenly his legs turned to jelly. His tough guy charms forgotten, Jooheon moved through the Street cautiously, his back against the walls.  
Suddenly there was a growl, and he felt his heart give out as he ran for his life.   
The dog behind a closed gate barked and wagged it's tail, excited to be protecting it's home from suspicious strangers.   
The poodle then trotted back into it's house, feeling proud of itself.

**Author's Note:**

> First time I explored writing something Jooheon x Kihyun related.  
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
